As Needed Security

For many small businesses, it is very expensive to be able to employ private security guards to work for them on a regular basis. In some areas of towns and cities, the crime rates will rise against small businesses on certain days of the week, such as the weekends. This is why you could fill a great need by offering to take care of this problem for them; by offering a security service on certain days and nights of the week, when they need them most.

Make sure that if this is a 'business idea' that appeals to you, that you only employ the services of retired or off duty police officers, or people with a military background. The reason for this is that they have received excellent training in fields of self-defense and in following proper procedures during risky moments. They many times will already have a license to carry their own firearms, which is one less matter for you to concern yourself with. Make sure that you have them sign a disclaimer that states that you will not be held financially responsible if they are hurt while performing these services for you.

You should be able to charge about $170 per night and pay your security officers $120 per night. This again can vary depending on where you start your business and what the typical rate is for this service in your area. You can also offer to have guards work during the day if businesses are experiencing a lot of theft during business hours. Usually as long as a guard's presence is obvious, it will work as a safeguard against robbery during day or nighttime.

Most businesses would like to be able to afford security 24 hours a day, everyday, but it is just too expensive for them. Rotating the days and hours that the guards are present can be helpful for these types of businesses too. Therefore, you might offer to do this and see if they are more secure with the limited time that they are able to pay for. This can also confuse anyone trying to figure out the schedule of security, so that they can break in or shoplift when they know security isn't typically present.

Because you will be offering these services to many different businesses and working with several different security people, you will need to be able to keep all of your information and records well organized. This is extremely important to insure that your business runs smoothly for you. Have your security people fill out time cards and if the businesses prefer, have them signed by management that is present, when security arrives and leaves.

You may prefer hiring guards that are willing to work for you as private contractors, as opposed to employees. This will keep a lot of your paperwork much easier to handle. As your business grows, you may need to hire them as employees, but at first so that the paperwork is not too overwhelming you may want to start with independent contractors providing their services.

Before offering a business like this, be sure and check with all your local and state requirements for this type of work, so that you will not break any laws or miss the fact that you were required to get certain permits and such.

It is also a good idea to make sure that you have thorough background checks on the security people that you work with. Make sure your guards are well respected by the community and local police departments. Since they may have to rely on the local police to back them up at times, they should strive to have a good relationship with the local police departments.

Resources:

http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2672023,00.html

http://www.gssc.net/hiring/secoff.html

http://www.stanford.edu/group/SUDPS/security-faq.shtml

http://www.cnyc.com/code/newsletters/1997/1997-secguards.htm